Scrubs Episode 8.05 My ABC'S

J.D., Elliot and Dr. Cox have a new batch of interns and they each decide to take one under their wing. This should be interesting.

Thanks to catching a great episode of Sesame Street that morning with Turk and Izzy, J.D. has been having some pretty wacky Muppet fantasies. We cast our vote for Oscar the Grouch as new Chief of Medicine. (No offense to the old Chief, aka Kelso the Grouch.)

J.D. picks one of the young women interns to be his protégé, hoping to get a little "feminine energy." But things don't go quite as expected when it turns out his intern, Denise, is more of a typical guy than J.D. is. J.D. nicknames her "Jo," after the character on The Facts of Life. We were always partial to Tootie. J.D. and Denise treat a young father with lung cancer. The guy is fading fast and J.D. is concerned because Denise seems so indifferent.

Elliot picks intern Katie, a perky, blonde who kisses butt on a regular basis. Katie mentions that she wants to get assigned to do research for Turk's new medical paper. She's convinced she won't get it, so she tells Elliot she's not even applying. Elliot gives her a pep talk and tells her she should at least try.

When Turk picks another intern, Ed, for the job, Katie tells Elliot that surgery is such a boys' club. Elliot convinces Turk to give Katie a shot-it helps that Ed lets her have it. But Elliot's shocked when Turk reveals that Katie was actually the first person to apply. It looks to us like this new intern's not above a little manipulation to get what she wants.

Dr. Cox takes Ed under his wing even though he can't stand him, yet he doesn't know why. Perry Cox despises a lot of people, but there's always a reason, no matter how trivial. Since when is it a crime to like Hugh Jackman?! But Cox can't quite figure out what it is about Ed that bothers him until he sees Ed give up the job with Turk to Katie. He realizes that Ed is lazy, which is a huge waste because he's actually a pretty bright and talented intern. But Ed's fine with just being "better than most."

J.D. has to break the news to his patient's wife that her husband and the father of their 8-year-old son is dying. He asks Denise to come with him to help secure a DNR as a way to get her to show compassion. Carla's not sure that's such a good idea, and she's proven right when Denise is incredibly callous and inappropriate with the patient's wife. J.D. is able to smooth things over, but he's obviously heartbroken about the patient. Again, Denise doesn't seem to care at all.

As the three interns head home for the night, J.D., Elliot and Cox can't help but be dismayed at the attitudes of their three new proteges. It looks like it's going to be a long year.